Court clears MEPA official from bribery charges, deems accuser not credible

Architect and former Nationalist MP who reported that his client had been asked to pay an amount of money to a MEPA official for the issuance of a compliance certificate, not deemed credible by court

Former Nationalist MP Philip Mifsud
Former Nationalist MP Philip Mifsud

A court has acquitted a MEPA official accused of soliciting bribes from a developer, after the court ruled that it boiled down to one man’s word against that of another, finding the defendant’s version of events to be more convincing than that proffered by the prosecution.

The case itself dates back to May 2012, when the police had received a complaint from architect Philip Mifsud, a former Nationalist MP, who reported that his client, Matthew Camilleri, had been asked to pay an amount of money to a MEPA official for the issuance of a compliance certificate for a site he was developing.

The official in question, 63-year old Charles Azzopardi, was subsequently arrested and charged with soliciting bribery.

The client, Matthew Camilleri, had claimed that the solicitation had occurred when he had met Azzopardi together with another MEPA official, Stephen Austin, on the site in question for an inspection required for a compliance certificate, which would then allow him to apply for a connection to the water supply.

It was not contested that Azzopardi had noted certain discrepancies between the plans and the actual construction which would have to be rectified before the certificate could be issued.

However, Camilleri had told the court that at one point while he was alone with Azzopardi, the latter had asked him for Lm100 so he could issue the compliance certificate. A short while later however, said Camilleri, Azzopardi had amended the amount requested to €200 – as it would be easier to divide them between himself and the other official.

Camilleri reported this to his architect, who reported it to MEPA, who in turn informed the police. He claimed that the accused had tried to call him “many times” in the two days, but he had chosen not to answer the calls.

The second MEPA official conducting the inspection, Stephen Austin, had confirmed to the court that he had noted shortcomings in the site, such as the dimensions of the well and an internal gypsum partition, but denied that any money was demanded in his presence and added that the accused had not mentioned anything of the sort to him after Camilleri had left the site either.

Azzopardi also took to the witness stand, testifying in his defence. He denied all charges, explaining that he had simply informed Camilleri of the discrepancies between the construction and the siteplan.

He submitted a document listing the shortcomings related to the site in question to the court, and claimed that he had called the developer on several occasions to inquire as to whether the issues had been dealt with. Camilleri never answered his phone, he said.

In finding Azzopardi not guilty, Magistrate Vella said that it was a case of one person’s word against the other as the prosecution witnesses had, in fact, only reported what they had been told by Camilleri - the court deemed their testimony to be hearsay evidence and therefore inadmissible.

As for Camilleri himself, the court said that his testimony was not credible and that he had been visibly uncomfortable whilst giving evidence. He noted that the fact that Azzopardi had tried to contact Camilleri so many times pointed to him being genuine, whilst on the other hand Camilleri had every reason to want to avoid him as Azzopardi did not want to sanction the illegalities in his property.